Thesis on a summer love
by Axuree Rheeid
Summary: Hiro decides to take his graduation project with him on his family vacation to Mexico. He decides his apartment neighbor, Miguel Rivera, is the perfect guinea pig to test his project on. However, once things go wrong, he realizes they're gonna have to work together if they want to fix this mess before their summer ends. ( Yaoi/slash Hiroguel [HiroxMiguel])
1. Prologue

There's nothing quite like forcing a backpack closed with the power of your ass repeatedly falling on top of it to question your intelligence and dignity. He could build solar lasers of death like a casual summer project, but as soon as the laws of basic physics told him it wasn't possible to fit more than a certain limit of solid objects within a reduced space, his ego decided that no one needed the scientific method anyway to solve something that brute force could accomplish alone. It took him a near _judo hold_ to subdue the damn thing.

With awkward steps and wobbling more than he preferred, he took the backpack downstairs into the cafe, half-threw it on the floor and sat on top of it (holy shit it was as solid as a chair, was it _really_ made of fabric anymore?) to wait for his brother.

"Everything's ready aunt Cass!" He announced with a rehearsed smile and heavy breathing. He tried to even his breaths to conceal the fact that he had finished packing last minute.

"You just finished packing, didn't you?" Tadashi teasingly accused the moment he entered the room, carrying his suitcase downstairs to avoid damaging the wooden floor.

Hiro glared at him.

"Hiro! How on earth did you manage to shove everything inside a carry-on luggage?! Literally!" Exclaimed Cass as she entered the room and noticed the nearly exploding backpack.

"I wanted the regular one to carry my final project for college! It's priorities, I needed the space!"

"Final project?"

"Hiro is going full capitalist-competition against me and Baymax"

"Complement! Not competition."

Aunt Cass processed the information. They were on their way to Mexico. For two weeks of the summer. On vacation. To a cute beach.

And the youngest oF HER NEPHEWS IS **TAKING THE WORK WITH HIM.**

 _The horror._

She took a donut in her hand, unsure of whether she needed air, sugar, a book on ' _How to raise your gifted teenager for novice parents,_ ' or tears.

"Let him be, aunt Cass. At least he's gonna have something to keep himself busy whenever he gets bored." Consoled Tadashi, fully knowing the kind of… _drastic_ decisions Hiro was capable of making whenever he didn't use his brain and got bored. "The beach loses its novelty after a few days"

Several kilometers away from there, a fraction of the Rivera family members had packed their things and gotten in a bus, ready to visit the same beach as the Hamada family.

They couldn't all go at once. Some stayed behind to manage the shoe store so the business wouldn't be left unattended, but they took turns so the kids wouldn't die of boredom during their summer vacation.

Even the adults had their turn as well.

Having family owned businesses and strong bonds with relatives were an advantage when you wanted to use the kids as an excuse to go on vacation.

Yep.

On this occasion, it was Miguel's, Socorro (with four well-lived springs under her belt), and their parents. Mama Elena declined the invitation this time, opting to stay in Santa Cecilia to take care of the store along with the rest of the Rivera family. Besides, she mentioned, "Coquito is going to benefit from the Mayan Riviera water. She's a Rivera after all, that water is full of spiritual energies." Miguel didn't exactly like sacred cenotes after his traumatizing experience with one involving Ernesto, but there wasn't much he could do about it.

The _Rivieran_ Maya. It was a full blown tradition of the _Rivera_ family to take the new members of the family over there as soon as they had enough funds.

Well, at least he could take his guitar with him and play it until they arrived. As of now, he was stuck on a bus for several hours.

" _M'ijo,_ sing to your sister the song that goes _caaaaaran can quin cun cua_ , she likes that one." Asked his mother. But...

The wat.

"No _m'ijo_ , she's gonna be excited the whole trip and we're not gonna rest. The C _arpenter Bear_ puts her to sleep."

The wut.

"Nooo! I dun' like it! It's sad!" Socorro cried..

"Do you see, Enrique? That song's really sad, oh my god, no, she's gonna be traumatized."

" _Le-let… Let it go! Let it go!_ " Socorro sang instead.

Ooooorrrr mmmmaybe he should feign being asleep because being only 16 meant he was definitely not ready for Let it go Disney Cover #300 (acoustic guitar version HD in stereo) inside a bus full of strangers.

He took his guitar and curled up in his seat, faking a calm slumber.

"Miguel. Miguel? Oh shoot, he's sleeping like a rock."

Yep.

Better wait until they got to the apartment they had rented for two weeks. He still loved his family to bits, it was just… that he was going through puberty and his pride was going to hurt a bit if he began to sing meme songs.

Besides that, he was sure that once they got there he'd have everything under control again. And then he _would_ sing Let it go for little Coco until she was old enough to move into an ice castle of her own if she wanted to. Anything was worth it as long as he didn't have to go to the cenote.

"LET IT GOOOOO LET IT GOOOO CAN'T HOLD IT BACK ANYMOOOORE."

"Sssshhh, Socorro, don't yell, there's people sleeping and your brother is as well."

"... Oh"

Thank God for the short attention span of 4 year olds.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"I HAVE A ROOM TO MYSELF!" Was the delighted scream of the youngest Hamada, flopping down on the single bed and happily burying his face on the pillow.

"I DON'T HAVE TO SHARE THE CLOSET ANYMORE!" Was the muffled scream from Tadashi in the room right next to his, seemingly celebrating as well on his own pillow.

They do say the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

The one thing that Hiro wasn't expecting was listening to aunt Cass talking to someone. If Tadashi was on his bed, and Hiro was in his bed as well, and if they had already talked to the landlord, gotten the keys, and officially had the day to themselves… then whom was she talking to? With a mix of laziness and curiosity, Hiro rolled his head over the pillow just enough to free one of his ears to listen to the conversation.

"...See… vacati…! ...meet yo… we are… neighbors"

"...Cass. And w…?"

"...Corro, Miguel…"

"...phews, Tadashi and Hiro."

Maybe she was striking up a friendly conversation with the people who rented the apartment next to theirs. Guess she'd give them the juicy details later. The only question was… which one was more powerful? The comfortableness of having his teen privacy respected _and_ resting under the weight of more than 25°C during vacation time? Or curiosity of seeing if he was capable of snatching a peek of the new neighbors and avoid being seen?

"See you later, have a nice day!" Aunt Cass closed the door, giving Hiro only a quick moment to Hiro to peek with one eye just enough time to catch the glimpse of a gleaming beach, the sun, and a red denim jacket that disappeared from his view offering his hand to a small toddler girl. And there it goes, another example of when science perished in favour of laziness, _Tesla must be rolling in his grave._

From the other side of the door, just in time as he turned his back, Miguel would've sworn a pair of brown eyes and a head full of longish unruly hair had been spying on him through an open bedroom door that was several meters behind aunt Cass, the neighbor which they just learned was also here on vacation. And whom they had just kindly invited over to eat in a few hours. He wondered which one of the nephews she had mentioned brought over with her had been that one, before shrugging and kept walking with little Socorro holding his hand.

* * *

Hello! I'm Axureé Rheeid, the author of this fanfic. Welcome to the prologue. I have a few clarifications to do:

Miguel's mom was singing a butchered up version of the Can Can. The carpenter bear is a really sad song from Pedro Infante.

Hiro is 17 and ready to graduate from University (because this little genius manages to do everything fast).

Miguel is 15 and he's going to high school. He's currently attending the music club.

Little Coco is 3 and happy.

Tadashi is 22 and already living on his own apartment with a secure job at the place where he did his social service because I need him alive for humorous purposes surrounding Hiro's life, so he's gonna be with the rest in this trip. :D

I changed Socorro's song. In the spanish version she's singing a song from a political spot that aired over here in favor of a political party in Mexico called Movimiento naranja (Orange movement). The song was so catchy and short, and it was so ridiculous for being a spot, that it spread like wildfire. The closest thing I could find for it's english equivalent was Let it go.

This ship got me thanks to its fanfiction and artwork :DDD I was kept in the hospital for a while and was feeling a little down, but this ship helped me get right through it. I was actually retired from writing fanfic because I'm old af (?) but I got dragged to the dark side and I regret nothing.

The following chapters are going to be actually way longer, I just thought a smallish prologue wouldn't be so bad to set a mood and officially begin to write this story.

Axureé, over and out.


	2. Serenade the foreign

Hiro didn't remember the last time he had worked on something so fast before. Even less so with Tadashi's help. _And never_ with aunt Cass in the background, because it's not like a ton of ideas come to your head in the middle of a family reunion, but in this case… there's no doubt there's a first time for everything.

The problem here was that the family next to them spoke Spanish and although Tadashi and him didn't have much trouble speaking the language to an intermediate level (thanks Honey Lemon, you're going straight into heaven, high platform heels and everything) aunt Cass didn't have the same skill level.

"It's no trouble at all, aunt Cass! Just give us a second." Reassured Tadashi while placing hydrophobic rubber to the portable translator from Radioshack, which he and his brother were presently ' _tuning'_ for her. Hiro looked at him with an arched brow, questioning his brother's generosity.

They had been at this for an hour, _Tadashi can speak for himself, 'a second' my ass._

"I still think it's very kind on your part, boys. Thanks a lot!"

"Why are you so interested in talking to the Rivera family anyways, aunt Cass?" Inquired Hiro, adjusting with the help of Google the few remaining wrong translations of the device.

"Need this!" Tadashi chimed in and snatched the screwdriver from his hands, _son of an electron._

"I mean, if Tadashi lets you interact with them by ceasing to take my stuff all the time, of course."

"Hey, I'm helping too!"

She laughed.

"Well, we're in a new and unknown country. I have never been to Mexico before! Any help we can get is worthwhile, right ?"

And while they were at it she'd also like it if her younger nephew interacted with people closer to his age range. Things had been a bit draining for both Tadashi and her after death of her nephews' parents.. If Hiro could only find something to keep himself entertained so Tadashi could relax and stop assuming parenting responsibilities that…

" _Aunt Caaaaaaass!_ Tadashi is _bothering_ me!" Cried Hiro, fruitlessly attempting to take the screwdriver back from Tadashi, who was dangling it right on top of his head as he chuckled, effectively provoking Hiro.

"Not true! I'm helping!"

"YOU HAVE THE SCREWDRIVER AND AREN'T EVEN USING IT!"

"Well you're not using it either, are you?"

"I was until you took it!"

"And why didn't you get it back?"

"BECAUSE YOU HAVE IT, POTATO FACE!"

"Aunt Cass, Hiro is calling me potato face to excuse his laziness."

"BUT I'M WORKING!" With a quick move, Hiro took the hydrophobic rubber away from him. "Aha! Gimme the screwdriver and your rubber shall not be harmed!"

"What is this, Law & Order to ask for a ransom to free a hostage? You're being petty!" Laughed Tadashi, wiping a tear from his eyes seeing Hiro so sincerely pissed off.

"Me?! YOU STARTED THIS! Gimme my screwdriver!"

"It's got my name engraved, technically"

"Then I'm not giving your rubber back! Use the screwdriver to seal water off, see how well that works for you!"

"Hiro, screwdrivers aren't used to waterproof systems! Did you fall asleep on your classes again?"

"I DON'T FALL ASLEEP! You're the one who's always trying to see things from another point and all that jazz, go on, use it!"

...Yeah. She was less worried now.

Cass laughed and her nephews turned their heads in her direction. She exchanged the objects in the hands of both brothers so Hiro would stop throwing teenager tantrums and Tadashi stopped laughing and picking on him twice as much. "Alright, alright! Calm down the both of you! Remember the Riveras are waiting for us to come have dinner with them…"

Tadashi didn't need much more to focus on his work again. Hiro went back to tightening tiny bolts, still not quite sold on the idea of going out to eat with a bunch of people. It did sound a bit like fun though, and in no case was he planning on ruining the day by saying an antisocial comment like "I don't want to go", but… Why did they have to go with strangers?

Well, if the worst happened he could always stay close to Tadashi.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"There's a restaurant close to this place, it's real good, we think you might enjoy it a lot. You don't eat a lot of spicy food, do you? Miguel, hurry up with Coco's purse!"

"Coming, mamá!"

The woman turned to Cass. "So that thing on your neck translates everything we say, miss? Oh, wow, how _padre…_ "

"Yes! My nephews built it for me." Cass gestured to him and Tadashi. "This is Tadashi and this is Hiro…"

"Oh, they're cuties!" The woman pinched his cheek. "How old are you boys? Still going to school?"

The man, presumably her husband, pitched in with a light but stern tone. "You have to study hard, understand? Girlfriends can wait."

Tadashi chuckled. "It's great to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Rivera! Well, Hiro got into college early, and I'm already working, Mr. Rivera. By the way, are you familiar with a company called…?"

Hiro held the most stoic smile he was capable of keeping to stand the pain in the cheek Mrs. Rivera had pulled while the four adults happily chatted away, making the conversation their own.

The three year old girl had gotten distracted with a sea that shone bright under the sun, away from the fenced hall they were standing in. Absentmindedly he decided to explore the same place as her to watch the horizon.

And that was when a door violently opened and the _exact same_ red jacket from that morning blocked his view. He forced his eyes to open and gasped in surprise, taking a step back.

"Mamá," the stranger called. "Here are _Coquito's_ things!"

" _Ay Jesús!_ Thank you , Miguel, but next time watch where you're going! You almost ran over Hiro!" Scolded Mrs. Rivera, taking Coco's purse despite everything.

"Over who?"

Two pairs of brown eyes found each other. Hiro's locked onto the mysterious stranger whose face was (finally) revealed. So his name was Miguel. His scent faintly smelled like flowers, his body proudly showed the signs of blooming teenagerhood (overflowing energy, gawky movements). The boy had thin lips, brown skin, a round face, short height and… Was he really gonna go out _in this weather_ wearing a jacket? As much as he was also wearing shorts and sneakers, and as much as he had twice as he had more melanin in his body to protect him from a sunburn, _he was still going to get at least four different kinds of heatstroke._

Miguel had to look up for his gaze to meet the other boy's. Friggin giant Americans and their hormone injected food that made them grow like dinosaurs. Hiro had disheveled hair, long lashes and thick eyebrows, and a slight separation between his front teeth. He was only wearing a pair of shorts and a t-shirt yet both were already damp with sweat. If he looked close enough, he could see how the young facial features were just starting to change into those of (as mama Elena would say) "a full grown man." He might've be older than Miguel was. And he also smelled strongly of sunscreen..

Miguel looked at his family silently asking for help in identifying Hiro, but they had already gone back to chatting with Miss Cass (the one he met that afternoon) and the other guy whom he guessed might be the brother of this one, since he was taller and with a more adult face. He turned around to look at Hiro, and Hiro looked back at him. Miguel took off his jacket and gave him his brightest smile, reaching his hand out to him. Welp, if no one was gonna introduce them, might as well do it himself.

"Hi, Hiro, _un gusto_! My name is Miguel Rivera. Do you speak Spanish?"

Miguel had the sun and the sea right behind him, bathing him in a beautiful, nearly supernatural golden aura. Hiro felt something bolt in his guts _way too distinctly_. Might as well eat something soon or the sunshine and Miguel's smil– _correction_ , Miguel's latino accent were gonna make him dizzy. Hiro shook his hand and never before in his life did he feel as self conscious as now upon realizing that he was sweating like a pig. His hands were the Niagara falls. Or were those Miguel's hands? He had no idea anymore. Curse you, hot weather!

"My name is Hiro Hamada. Just a bit, the basics? Nice to meet you, Miguel."

Hiro returned the smile. Miguel on the other hand couldn't stop looking at him, thinking that was the kind of smile his cousin Rosa liked movie actors to have. He even looked a bit like one, standing under the sun rays with half his skin glowing with their light, and the other half hidden in the shadows, colored a subtle pink for not being used to the heat, and the sea breeze gently rolling his hair. Yeah, definitely worth a magazine's cover.

Both of them ignored the goosebumps that crawled up their spines after holding hands. It had been such a brief contact and yet, maybe because of the high humidity from their shared sweat, it felt intense.

"Well… your accent is really nice!"

"... Thanks! Although I really don't know a lot of Spanish…"

The other boy, Hiro's brother Miguel guessed, wandered over.

"And I'm Tadashi, it's nice to meet you too."

Miguel smiled and extended his hand towards Tadashi, the both of them giving Hiro enough breathing space so his head could stop spinning after what the dark-skinned one had just said about his accent.

Too bad trouble happened immediately afterwards.

Miguel turned towards him. "I'm attending High School, what about you?"

"Eh… well, I'm actually already going to college, it's a bit of a… special case."

"Oh! You're some kind of super genius or something?" Miguel tensed up, suddenly self-conscious of each science class in which his grade was lower than a B+.

"Kind of like that, but it's really not that much of a big deal… So what do you like to do in your free time?"

"Oh! Music. I love music! When I was a kid I used to mimic great mexican classics, but with time I began to reach out to new areas. What kind of music do you like, now that I think about it?"

"Well… I guess _dubstep_ is not so bad…" Miguel controlled his urge to leave the place, slap him with his mother's _chancla_ , or cut the conversation short right there. He hid his horror face behind a fake reassuring smile. It wasn't working.

And so they parted, behind three adults and a little girl who seemed busier talking than paying them attention.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

They had been in the restaurant for about an hour now (dessert and table talk included) and it had been more than enough time for Tadashi to realize something weird was going on here.

Yes, he may have spent the majority of said conversation listening to the Rivera couple talk about Mexico and local customs (besides asking as well about the Mexican health care system, quite useful if he planned to introduce Baymax into this country as a prototype for his next conference). But in the quiet times while he waited for his food to arrive, looked at the menu, talked to the toddler (she was adorable), helped aunt Cass with her translator, ate his food or just chatted… he did notice Hiro _wouldn't leave Miguel alone_ , and it seemed mutual. They had been talking on their own for at least _an hour_. Paying no attention to anyone else.

This _had_ to have a rational explanation.

He trusted his brother, but he knew more than anyone else how things sometimes got out of his control, and he would die if he knew of anything that happened to Hiro just because he wasn't paying him enough attention.

Time to use the scientific method.

Possible hypothesis:

Hiro is planning to do some sort of thing with his project that could potentially affect Miguel, in which case he might need to pull him into a long talk just to make sure he doesn't harm the guy.

Hiro is simply interacting with a mexican in Mexico and asking questions about Mexico for curiosity or personal motives (to be determined), and absolutely no one is at risk.

The scientific method demands the observation of a phenomenon to see what happens, but Hiro acts similar to a quantic string: when you attempt to observe them they alter the way they act. And because watching him closely would mean risking the final result to be compromised, he opted for the old trick of listening to conversations to which he wasn't invited and where no one asked for his opinion.

Sometimes he likes to think he's a good brother deep down.

Sometimes.

This is not one of those times.

Faking interest in his pudding, he discreetly pulled his chair closer to the young boys, eavesdropping.

"Wow, you really weren't kidding when you said you liked robotics. Looking at the kind of music you listen to, even your favorite groups have a certain industrial techno, synthetic sound in their songs." Observed Miguel.

"Why'd you say that? You don't like them? Your loss, dude…"

"Eh, I have a different style. But yours is okay, too! Though I'm sure if I tried I could make you like one of my songs, no effort required."

"Ha! Not understanding a word? I'd love to see that happen, wanna bet?" his brother said while grinning a cocky smile to Miguel

 _Hiro, no._

"Alright so, if I win, you'll have to explain me everything about your secret project, and if you win…" Miguel said, and Tadashi silently prayed for Hiro to stay ethical.

"If I win you'll have to tell your most embarrassing secrets in the middle of the beach."

"Deal!"

 _Hiro, thanks._

"But also… I have a special request there…"

 _Hiro, for the love of Tesla and the university that enrolled you._

They were whispering a little too low for him to understand. Tadashi tried to get closer, but to no avail. Feeling guilty, he wondered if maybe he should trust his brother more and if maybe he wasn't being too nosy of his private life. After all, they had just arrived to a new country on vacation. And Hiro had already made a friend. Couldn't he have just a little faith in his brother? Still… if something bad were to happen, something that could've been entirely prevented…

No. Hiro is already 17. He knows what he's doing.

Tadashi steered away from them, letting them have their privacy.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Place: the beach in front of the rental apartments.

Hour: six thirty in the afternoon, the sunset would begin any moment now.

Mama Cass and Tadashi left to buy groceries for dinner (or so his new friend had told him) and his own family had taken Socorro to the nearest kid's pool. He would've liked to go with them, but he had a pending bet against Hiro, who was presently waiting for him sitting on a towel placed over the sand. A parasol protected him from the evening sun, making his shadow lengthen and glide over the small dunes. Miguel approached him from behind, after getting his guitar back from the apartments.

It _had_ to be the beach. It had to be here and now, _Hiro wasn't going to be able to resist the atmosphere_.

"Well, ready to listen to your new favorite song?" asked Miguel, sitting at his side and settling his guitar. Hiro looked at him with scepticism.

"... Is that thing some sort of secret weapon of yours?" he chuckled and the darker skinned guy softly shouldered him. "Alright, so give it a try. I doubt it'll have much effect on me though."

Miguel rolled his eyes and jumped on the challenge, tuning the strings and playing chords one by one, playing a few notes that faded in the wind after rolling through both of their ears.

Hiro Hamada. He got to know him quite a bit of him today despite having just met.

"I still can't believe you're already attending college in San Fransokyo. Are you really studying robotics, engineering and all those things? What about Tadashi?"

"Oh, no, not him. For the moment being I'm the only one living with Aunt Cass, he moved out already. Although he was the one who convinced me to enroll in the university. And… I didn't know you played the guitar. Let me guess, you study music?"

"Nnnnno, _en realidad_ , eh, I don't think I'm that good. Although I do assist to some guitar and singing classes and stuff. I actually learned to play as a kid with a guitar that… That…. _Bueno_ , that I crafted myself." Miguel laughed nervously.

To be in the company of someone considered a genius in their field, when he was nothing but a regular person… it was a bit scary. He clearly had no idea of Hiro's present admiration and curiosity over the reasons that pushed him to make his own guitar.

"I'm still attending high school and once the vacations are over we'll go back to Santa Cecilia. Are you sure you don't want to visit someday? It's really pretty!"

"I'm just too used to the city by now. But as soon as you graduate, you could come to San Fransokyo and study music… or robotics like myself, and then I won't have to worry about random people snatching my stuff around the lab because you'll be guarding it".

Another chuckle, clear as crystal, escaped from Miguel's lips, yet he didn't answer Hiro.

Maybe their worlds were too different when compared to each other, maybe he wouldn't be able to answer him each time. Sometimes he didn't understand his English, sometimes they both ran away calling for help from Google translate. They didn't share the same family values and occasionally, if they were too close, they'd get a light headed feeling similar to floating which didn't help them to think coherently.

But, if there was one thing Miguel knew he could pull off, it was communicating through music. ¿ _Dubstep_? Pfff, please, once he was done with Hiro he would never listen to the same plastic songs in the radio again. Music wasn't just a language… it was a language that came from the heart.

He was going to demolish with nothing but chords all of the science barriers Hiro had built around him, or his name wasn't Miguel Rivera.

"If I win, you'll tell me what's the deal with your experiment and why you kept it with such secrecy. But if you win…"

"If I win..." Hiro continued. "...You're going to tell your most embarrassing secrets to everyone, but you'll _also have to help me with my project_ ".

Miguel was, after all, _perfect_ for what he had in mind: an empathy program.

A program that would allow two people, no matter how diametrical their differences were, to understand each other. To solve some conflicts around the world, to diagnose mental-illnesses with more ease and bring some peace of mind to those who needed it most. Even better: if integrated with Baymax, Tadashi would feel even grateful. And without the integration, it still worked perfectly as a senior-thesis-final project that would allow him to graduate early. And Miguel was enough of an opposite to him (in values, in personality, in everything, dear God, he was PERFECT) for Hiro to know quickly whether the machine had worked or not.

After all, he had already brought a prototype with him, which he could use to experiment with.

If he had to endure a bit of acoustic guitar just to have the project fully integral and compiled before going back to San Fransokyo, then he'd do it. Of fucking course he'd do it. Tadashi was going to be _at his happiest_. Hiro would get hired wherever he wanted, too.

And, yeah, ok, if the thing worked then he guessed he could also become friends with Miguel, but eh, it wasn't something that made him lose sleep at night, despite his high adrenaline levels asking him to be near Miguel, and which had been doing nothing but rise steadily all day long. He guessed it was part of the excitement of finally making his plan happen.

Miguel played a chord. The sound was perfect, the guitar was on point.

"Done. Now, Hiro, I'm going to have to ask you to close your eyes…"

"What?"

"Just do it! It's so you can listen better."

"... Miguel, I listen with my ears, not with my eyes."

"Hiro!" Miguel giggled. "It's music! If you get distracted that's cheating!"

"But I…"

"Sssshhh… _a ver,_ I'll do it." Whispered the dark skinned boy in between chuckles, and he rose his hands in the direction of Hamada's eyes, covering them with his hands. Both of their hearts climbed up to their throats.

" _It's excitement"_ they both thought. Cursed bets and the tension they brought along with them. They felt this way because they both wanted to win. Yes. It was definitely that.

"... Alright, I've already closed them."

"Thank you." Whispered again Miguel, and the short hairs on Hiro's nape puffed up at the same time his skin got goosebumps all over it. Miguel withdrew his hands, but Hiro's eyes were already closed, getting only a hint of sunlight through their lids.

 _And he listened._

He listened to the sea breeze playing in between his hairs while the sea gently caressed the wet sand on the shore. Birds singing the sunset away, looking for a place where to sleep. Seagulls screeching to communicate with their peers. The lone beach, since the place they were staying at had destined a small part of the shore to be of exclusive use for the apartment complex. Further away it was possible to listen to some of the tourists, their joyful voices drowning among the sound of the tide crashing against anything that got in its way. The water, going up and down. The humid, hot, sticky air which glazed his skin with sweat. The scent of the sea. Of the breeze. Of Miguel.

A guitar strumming under warm brown fingers.

And a modified tempo meant to be slower than what it would normally be.

" _ **Pasaste a mi lado… con gran indiferencia…"**_

 _(You passed by my side, with great indifference.)_

He wasn't expecting to have Miguel's voice whispering in his ear. He also wasn't expecting him to have such a velvety voice. Or for the rest of the sea to join him in the rhythm. Neither for his whole body to be frozen in place and keep him there, sitting on his ass in the middle of the beach, while Miguel sang to his ear with an acoustic guitar.

" _ **Tus ojos ni siquiera... voltearon hacia mí…"**_

 _(Your eyes didn't even, turn to look at me.)_

Chills crawled up his spine and spread to his whole body. He wasn't ready for this. Miguel's voice carried the pity of a broken heart in it, almost as if he actually feeling this, and it was making Hiro…. for real… just blush a little bit.

 _Ok so he was feeling his cheeks officially boiling._

" _ **Te vi sin que me vieras, te hablé sin que me oyeras…**_

 _ **y toda mi amargura se ahogó dentro de mí."**_

 _(I saw you without you seeing me, I talked to you without you hearing me…_

 _and all of my bitterness drowned inside me.)_

Miguel's voice was so heartbroken Hiro barely contained his urge to tell him he was sorry for whatever even though he had done nothing yet and this was just a stupid game. He also barely contained the urge to scream and sink himself head first into the sea, to hide in there until next year or as soon as his cheeks were less ablaze, whichever one happened first. He opted instead for closing his eyes and remain silent and sitting in his place, trembling and shaking like a puppy.

His knees were shaking. His hands were shaking.

He tried to recite Pi in his memory.

" _ **Me duele hasta la vida, saber que me olvidaste,**_

 _ **saber que mil desprecios, merezca yo de ti"**_

 _(It pains me up to my very life, to know you forgot me,_

 _knowing a thousand snubs, are what I deserve from you.)_

Miguel drew closer to Hiro. The song was waking up some very strange feelings within him but, unlike his new friend who seemed ready to _explode_ and run away to bury his head in the sand like a panicking ostrich in just pure, _absolute terror,_ he opted to welcome the new sensations and use them on his favor.

He was going to dedicate him this song with heartfelt feelings.

" _ **Y sin embargo sigues unida a mi existencia,**_

 _ **y si vivo cien años... cien años pienso en tí"**_

 _(And despite it all you're still tied to my existence,_

 _and if i live a hundred years, a hundred years I think of you.)_

Hiro didn't remember what fucking number was next in the sequence. Or what his name was. Or who he was anymore. He was too focused in his tachycardia and the heat radiating from Miguel's face against his shoulder and how close to him he must be at the moment.

He's getting emotional, for fucks sake. He could almost feel as if he himself was starting to **fall in love** with the younger Rivera, goddammit.

" _ **Pasaste a mi lado… con gran indiferencia…"**_

 _(You passed by my side, with great indifference.)_

Don't let it go, _don't_ let it go.

" _ **Tus ojos ni siquiera... voltearon hacia mí…"**_

 _(Your eyes didn't even, turn to look at me.)_

He let it go.

Hiro let all of his defenses go and plop to the ground, effectively allowing the song to take him away for a ride. He didn't know anything else about himself anymore. All he knew was that he wanted to listen to this. A ballad to his ear, in the beach, with flushed cheeks, with closed eyes, with physical contact mere _fractions of an inch_ away from his reach from where he was sitting, so close yet so far…

" _ **Te vi sin que me vieras, te hablé sin que me oyeras…**_

 _ **y toda mi amargura se ahogó dentro de mí.**_

 _ **Me duele hasta la vida, saber que me olvidaste,**_

 _ **saber que mil desprecios, merezca yo de ti"**_

 _(I saw you without you seeing me, I talked to you without you hearing me…_

 _and all of my bitterness drowned inside me._

 _It pains me up to my very life, to know you forgot me,_

 _knowing a thousand snubs, are what I deserve from you.)_

Even though it didn't feel like he was being rejected in the slightest.

" _ **Y sin embargo sigues unida a mi existencia,**_

 _ **y si vivo cien años..."**_

 _(And despite it all you're still tied to my existence,_

 _and if i live a hundred years...)_

The last chord made him feel goosebumps again.

" _ **...cien años pienso en tí."**_

 _(...a hundred years I think of you.)_

The last few notes broke the spell. Kind of. Hiro opened his eyes, feeling dizzy. Miguel got away from him, playing random chords to the sun and allowing his new friend to get over the initial shock.

Hiro knew. Hiro knew music had a scientific explanation, he knew everything in this life had one, but right now he was having trouble understanding what had just happened. What did Miguel do to him? Curses.

"So do you want the song in your spotify or directly on your cellphone?"

"Give me a break, that wasn't fair."

"Do you want me to fan you some air? You're bright red."

Miguel won a clean victory.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"...It's an empathy machine." Hiro said as he opened the door to his room, inviting the younger boy in as he rubbed his arms with his hands in an attempt to make the gooseflesh go away and forget the serenade event and anything relating to it ever happened. Because if he didn't forget it, then he'd have to think about it, and he didn't want to deal with that right now. "The idea is that is should help two people to understand each other…"

"Hiro."

"...No matter what their differences are, or the distance there is between each other."

"Hiro."

"By creating an emotional bridge between them, I think we can successfully connect and help them reach a commonground where they are free to understand each other…"

"Hiro!"

"What? I'm not done yet."

" _You're still red."_

" **MIGUEL RIVERA SHUT YOUR HECK UP I SWEAR ON THE ASDJFALSDKJFAS!** "

Miguel smiled as he watched Hiro throw a tantrum screeching like a desperate mouse, stomping his foot the ground to let his frustration out. It wasn't that his science project wasn't interesting, it was just that he was finding it more engaging to see him red-faced , embarrassed, and screaming blasphemies in foreign languages. He was definitely gonna start to pick on him more from now on, maybe make " _Cien años_ " (the song he just sang to him) his default ringtone because _this was gun be gud-_...

"W-well, as I was saying! This is the prototype I have, and I was expecting to get it done and ready before flying back to San Fransokyo, but I guess that's now gonna have to wait a little bit more."

Wait, what did he just say? Miguel backpedaled his thoughts there.

"Eh? Why?"

"Well, I was kinda gonna ask you to help me test it if you lost the bet. I thought that since we're so different, it would be best to test it on someone with whom you share little to nothing in common with. It would be pretty obvious from the get go whether an empathetic connection formed and if it was or wasn't successful!" Announced Hiro.

Miguel stared at him. Hiro stared intensely at the empathy machine, then his notes, then the machine again.

"But uh… welp. You won fairly (and if you say anything about my cheeks I'll strangle you with the machine's power chord, Miguel) so I guess I'll settle for plan B. It's really not thaaaaat biiiig of a deal, I was just feeling kind of lazy about doing a second search…"

Miguel drifted his gaze all over the rented room. And over the machine. Had Hiro really made this all by himself? He really was a genius. A genius who would curl into a defensive spikey ball when sung to his ear, but a genius nevertheless. And all that about making a device that would help others… to understand emotions and situations that would've otherwise been out of your reach…

...Hector. Mama Coco. Mama Imelda... Chicharrón. Could something like this have helped them in time to clear all misunderstandings…?

"...Hiro."

" **IF YOU** _ **DARE**_ **SAY ANYTHING ABOUT MY CHEEKS AGAIN, RIVERA…!** "

"I'll help you."

" **... I WANT YOU TO KNOW I'M QUITE OKAY WITH THE AIR CONDITION-...! Eh?"**

Miguel looked up to him with determination. Hiro looked back with confusion.

"I'll help you finish the empathy machine!"

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Hello! I'm Axureé Rheeid. Told you the chapters would get longer. Welp.

Since I'm writing this fanfic at the same time I translate it, I would like to ask for your patience in me uploading these chapters. My priority is to get it fully written in spanish during my free tiems, then translating it to english, because if the story isn't written then I can't translate it, can I? Since I'm also balancing illustration in the middle, I thank you for your patience in my uploading times. Don't worry, right as I write this, the fanfic is complete in spanish up to chapter 8 and I'll jump on that translation as fast as I can.

Here is a picture of the apartments they're staying at. You can play sims with them!

. /78281c34a5c3bcf65b1623d65518164f/tumblr_p5q2lcgQaR1rkea2do1_

The hall's stairs are open air and they're how you access your apartment, you get sight and access to the beach from here. The balcony on the back has sight to the city.

The song was "Cien años" (a hundred years) by Pedro Infante. We're gonna use a lot of classic and popular mexican songs during this fic so I hope you enjoy the ride and give them a chance. I'll update the playlist as we go.

PLAYLIST

0\. Let it go (Optional joke song)

1\. "Cien años" by Pedro Infante.

See you next chapter!

Axu, over and out.


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